Why Do You Care So Much?
by WiseBlondeWarrior
Summary: "'Why do you care so much anyways? I'm a nobody' 'You're somebody to me.' Those words rang around in his head. He cared about her. She was a stick of TNT lit from both ends, a ball of excitement, a lonely girl on the inside with no past, but she was his and he was hers. That was all that mattered." Octavian/OC


All was normal at Camp Half-Blood. The Stolls were playing pranks, Leo worked on repairing his ship, and Hazel led lessons on horseback riding. Then Piper was running around the camp looking for Jason and Frank.

"Whoa, Beauty Queen! Where's the fire?" Leo asked as he exited his cabin when Piper almost ran him over.

"The Romans are on the hill!" Leo immediately started running towards the hill. On the way there, he was joined by Hazel on horseback and Frank in dog form. Everyone was ready to attack when a figure found its way in front of the Greeks.

"Wait, guys!" It was Rachel Elizabeth Dare. "They have a white flag!" Reyna landed on the top of the hill on Skippy. She regarded everyone coldly before dismounting and running to hug Jason.

"Hey, Reyna. Not that I'm not glad to see you, but why are you here, and under a flag of truce?" Reyna's dark eyes swept over her army. "We need to speak with your camp director."

* * *

Once an agreement with the Romans had been established, they were welcome to roam the camp. The Romans mostly went with Hazel, Frank, Jason, or Piper or in their own groups. Octavian was the only one alone.

"What's a handsome Roman like you doing here all alone?" Octavian turned to see a beautiful girl leaning up against a pink cabin. Her black was curled and her makeup was well done.

"Walking." The girl looked slightly put off by Octavian's bluntness but walked closer to him. Before the girl could speak, Octavian noticed something strange. There was a girl behind the cabin. He just saw a hint of her red hair before she turned the corner again. She peeked her head out, winked, and put a finger to her lips.

"What's your name, stranger?"

"Octavian."

"How nice. I'm Drew." Octavian's blue eyes returned to Drew.

"Isn't that a boy's name?" Drew scoffed and rolled her eyes. At that moment, the girl ran out from behind the cabin with three other people. They sprayed Drew with Silly String, water, shaving cream, and glitter.

"Oh, you stupid Hermes kids! Do you know how long it took me to do my hair?" With that, Drew stormed off, leaving four laughing people and Octavian behind.

"Sorry about her. She's an awful person, isn't she?" the girl asked. Her red hair hung down to her hips and her orange t-shirt had no sleeves, a cut neckline, no sides, and strips cut out of the back. Her jean shorts were ragged and her combat boots were black leather.

"I'm Andromeda Silos. This is Travis Stoll, his twin, Connor, and…"

"Nico DiAngelo. Yes, I know him." Andromeda punched Nico lightly in the shoulder.

"You've been keeping secrets!" Nico smiled and ruffled Andromeda's wavy hair.

"So, who are you?" Andromeda asked. "I'm Octavian, augur of Camp Jupiter." Andromeda dropped her water gun and glitter. She grabbed Octavian's hand and started running.

"See you guys later!" Octavian went along with whatever Andromeda had planned. They soon stopped in front of a cave. "This is where one of my best friends lives," Andromeda announced.

"Is your best friend a bat?" Andromeda stuck out her tongue and pushed aside the violet curtains.

"Red! Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Suddenly, another girl ran up to Andromeda and jumped on her back. The two girls dissolved into laughter.

"Octavian, this is Rachel Elizabeth Dare, our camp oracle. You two are practically related!" Rachel slipped off of Andromeda's back.

"Did the Apollo cabin get the new grand piano yet?" Andromeda nodded and asked Rachel if she wanted to see it.

"You wanna come too, Octavian?" Octavian, being a legacy of Apollo, agreed and followed the girls.

* * *

"Hey, guys! What's up?" Andromeda shouted as she entered the cabin. A kid approached Andromeda and gave her a hug.

"Hey, Will. Rachel wants to see the piano and I've got a new piece that I've been working on." Will nodded and then narrowed his eyes.

"Who's he? One of those Romans?" Andromeda politely introduced Octavian and moved to the back of the cabin. There was an entire garden behind the cabin.

"The garden was made by the Demeter kids as a way to repay a debt." The entire thing was beautiful and surrounded by cherry blossom trees. In the center, surrounded by tables, was a grand piano. "Sometimes we have concerts back here," Andromeda commented.

"You're a child of Apollo?"

"Nah. Haven't been claimed, but it's no big deal." Octavian didn't know why he was so relieved by the fact. It irritated him that he was.

"You know the song 'Next to Me' by Emile Sande?" Rachel nodded. That was when Andromeda started playing.

"_You won't find him drinking at the table__  
__Rolling dice and staying out 'til three__  
__You won't ever find him being unfaithful__  
__You will find him, you'll find him next to me…"_

Andromeda's hands, nails painted red, glided across the ivory keys. At the chorus, Rachel joined in.

"_Next to me – ooh hooo__  
__Next to me – ooh hooo__  
__Next to me – ooh hooo__  
__You will find him, you'll find him next to me…"_

Their voices melded perfectly and Octavian found himself captivated. Not by Rachel, but Andromeda. She seemed so happy and vulnerable in that moment. Octavian wanted the song to last even longer so that she could look like that. _Wait, what?_

Andromeda finished the song with a flourish and turned to Octavian happily. "So, what'd you think?" For once, Mr. Eloquent didn't have anything to say. "Okay, close your mouth. Let's go! I hear music inside."

* * *

Andromeda walked with Octavian towards the Big House.

"So what's New Rome like?" she asked. Octavian mustered up a smile.

"Beautiful. I think that you'd love it." Andromeda smiled brightly.

"Do you really know me that well?" she asked. Octavian shrugged his shoulders.

"Back to New Rome. Can demigods really grow up there? Safe?" There was a longing in her voice, close to desperation.

"That'd be strange for me. I'm usually never in once place for very long." Octavian looked at Andromeda out of the corner of his eye. She was pretty. Not the kind pretty that made you stop and stare, but pretty. Her green eyes had a permanent mischievous glint to them and her mouth was in a constant smirk. Her lightly tanned face was unblemished except for freckles that dotted her cheeks, across her nose, and one big freckle under her left eye.

"You okay? You're staring," Andromeda said. Octavian liked the sound of her voice. It had an earthy tone to it and was a little gravelly. Octavian cleared his throat.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Maybe we should hurry or we'll miss the beginning of the meeting." Andromeda broke into a run with Octavian not far behind. Pretty soon, it had become a race between the two. They burst into the meeting room at the same time, out of breath but laughing nonetheless. Everyone stopped their idle discussion to stare. Jason tried to hide a smile. Piper made no such efforts.

"What are you all staring at?" Andromeda asked as she made her way to her seat. Octavian took his assigned seat next to Reyna, who was also trying not to smile.

"What are you smiling at?" Octavian snarled. Reyna shook her head and focused on what Chiron was saying.

"As we all know, Percy and Annabeth have fallen into Tartarus," he stated bluntly. "We must find a way to get them back while closing the Doors of Death at the same time. Several of you have already volunteered." The atmosphere grew dark around the table. "I'd rather not risk losing any other of my campers, but it has been decided that one camper from each cabin may go. Nominees?" A big burly girl stood up.

"I nominate myself, Clarisse La Rue." A boy next to her stood up and began speaking to her quietly. "I'm going, Chris! End of story," Clarisse growled and sat down, the boy looking distinctly hurt. Then a girl sitting next to Jason stood up.

"I'll go."

"Thalia, I want go too," Jason protested. Thalia deliberated before announcing that she'd represent Artemis in the quest. Another girl stood up, announcing herself as Katie Gardner and representing Demeter. A gray eyed boy stood up and said that he'd be going in Annabeth's place. In the end, those going were Thalia, Jason, Katie, Clarisse, Malcolm, Will Solace, Leo, Piper, Travis and Connor, Nico, Reyna, Octavian, Hazel, and Frank were going.

"Wait a minute!" someone exclaimed. "I need to go!" It was Andromeda who had spoken.

"Miss Silos, we have enough participants. Almost one from every cabin. Your assistance is not needed here," Chiron said gently. Andromeda grasped for something to say, something that would help her go. Octavian saw how much she struggled to find the words and before he could stop himself, he said, "Let her come with." Everyone turned to Octavian in shock.

"I don't know what powers she possesses, but they may be of use." Andromeda glared at Octavian as if to say, _I don't need your help. _It didn't matter; the damage was done. Chiron agreed to letting Andromeda go on the quest. Chiron dismissed the meeting, saying they would meet at sunset the next day. As everyone left, Octavian approached Andromeda.

He started to say that he was sorry but she snarled, "I don't need your help!" She shoved him so that he hit the wooden frame of the door.

How could one girl be so infuriating?

* * *

The next day, Octavian pounded on the Hermes cabin door. The counselor, Travis (or Connor, it was hard to tell them apart), answered.

"Is Andromeda here?" Travis (or Connor) looked behind him nervously. Someone walked outside, shoving Octavian into the cabin wall on the way out. It was a girl, 5'3", curvy figure, wearing a black tank top and white shorts and a pair of neon green Converse that matched her hair color. It was Andromeda. She was walking at a brisk pace towards the Hades cabin.

"Andromeda, wait!"

"Go away, Octavian." Octavian made the mistake of grabbing her wrist. Andromeda turned towards the augur, green eyes blazing with anger.

"Why are you so mad? We were just fine yesterday!" Octavian said, not releasing Andromeda's wrist.

"I don't need your help! I can do this by myself!" Andromeda wrenched her wrist free and stomped.

"Octavian? Dude, what's wrong?" someone asked. The augur turned to see Leo Valdez standing behind him.

"I saw that whole thing with Andi. Why's she so mad?" Octavian's brows knit together in confusion.

"Andi?"

"Yeah, short for 'Andromeda.' So what happened?" Octavian grudgingly retold the story. Leo thought for a moment before saying, "What did she mean by 'I can do this by myself'?" The boys thought for a second.

"She couldn't mean the quest because she's not going alone." Octavian and Leo puzzled over it for a few more moments before retiring to their separate cabins. Octavian entered the Apollo cabin and was greeted with dirty looks. Octavian ignored them and went to pack his few possessions.

Andromeda's voice echoed throughout his head accompanied with the inexplicable hurt in her eyes. When her voice faded away, it was replaced by a new rational voice.

_Why do you care so much?_

* * *

Octavian walked towards the Argo II where the majority of the group going on the quest waited.

"Where's Andromeda?" Octavian asked the closest person to him, which happened to be Leo. Leo shrugged and turned back to his conversation with Piper. Reyna and Jason were coordinating the quest and started taking attendance.

"Okay, everyone is here except for Nico and Andromeda." At that moment, Nico came running up. He stopped in front of Reyna and said, "Andromeda's not coming on the quest." Octavian grabbed the teen's shoulder.

"What do you mean that she's not coming?" Nico shrugged Octavian's hand off and glared at him.

"Austin and Kayla said they haven't seen her since yesterday and Chris said she ran back to the cabin. She packed her stuff and ran off," Nico said with an anxious tone to his voice. Katie and Travis had stopped their conversation to listen to Nico.

"She's run off before; she always comes back," Katie said with certainty.

"Not this time. She took her guitar." Everyone who knew Andromeda started showing signs of distress. Octavian was thoroughly confused. When he asked Travis what that meant, he answered, "Andromeda would never go anywhere without her guitar. It's the only thing she had when she woke up." That just provided more questions. Leo took Octavian to the side.

"Okay, so three, maybe four, years ago, Andi woke up without any idea who she was or where she was. She had a duffle bag filled with clothes and that guitar. She somehow made her way here and has only been here for about a year. Every once in a while, she'll run off without telling anyone why but she'll always come back. If she took her guitar, it means that we probably won't ever see her again."

"She said that she never stays in one place for too long." Leo looked shocked at that news.

"She never said anything like that to me. Are you sure that she's not from your camp?" Octavian nodded. He definitely would've noticed her growing up in New Rome. He was still irritated with Andromeda but felt sad for her. She had never had a home that she could remember.

Octavian put his hands in the pockets of the jacket he wore and felt something. It was a piece of paper, crumpled up but with the writing still legible.

_And if I'm flying solo  
At least I'm flying free  
__To those who'd ground me  
Take a message back from me  
Tell them how I am  
Defying gravity_

Octavian handed the piece of paper to Leo. "You know Andromeda the best. What does this mean?" Leo studied it for a minute with Piper reading over his shoulder.

"Wicked," Piper said simply. The boys stared at her. She sighed and said, "Wicked, the musical. You know… _I think I'll try defying gravity…" _Piper sang the last part. The boys still didn't seem to grasp what she meant. Piper sighed and grabbed Annabeth's laptop out of Malcolm's hands.

"Hey!"

"I only need it for a second." Piper quickly typed in something and turned the screen to face the boys. On it was a picture of two witches with a cast list below.

_Elphaba- Andromeda Silos  
Glinda- Isabelle Lightwood_

The pieces clicked in Octavian's head. "Oh, Wicked! Why didn't you just say that?" Piper gave him a, _Are you serious right now? _look.

"The show is tonight. If we hurry, we should get there near the end of the first act," Piper said. Leo soon got the ship in motion.

Octavian could hear Piper ask, "Why are we going to get her again?" Leo responded, "Nico told me that she had a plan for getting Percy and Annabeth back. Plus," he added, "I think that Octavian would have a heart attack if we didn't get her." Octavian glared at the back of Leo's head in anger, with that little voice in the back of his head saying, _You're just angry because he's right._

_Shut up. I met her yesterday. She's not all that important._

_Yet._

* * *

**My new story where Octavian has a heart! Yay! Don't worry, I'll make him more in character later on.**

**I can't talk right now but I'll definitely be working on the next chapter.**

**Later, guys!**

**~Warrior**


End file.
